Hill-holding brake device



v March 23, 1948.

HILL-HOLDING BRAKE DEVICE L. A. DICKENS 2,438,154

Filed May 13, 1946 s Sheefi-Sheet 1 Y IINVENTOR, I v

Zonme A. Dz/ckens,

BY. I

ATTORNEY;

March 23, 1948; 1.. A. DICKENS HILL-HOLDING BRAKE DEVICE Filed May 15, 1

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 v INVE WTOR, Zomzz'e A .DzcXe ns,

BY v

ATTOHN EY' March 23, 1948. Y 1.. A. DICKENS 2,433,154

HILL-HOLDING BRAKE DEVICE Filed May 13, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVEI'VTOR, Zonnze/LDwZens,

ATTOFiNEY-' Patented Mar. 23, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE f a I 2,438,154.:

HILL-HOLDING BRAKE DEVICE Lonnie A. Dickens, High Point, N. 0.-

Application May 13, 1946, Serial No. 669,356

My invention relates to so-calledfino roll or hold back devices for preventing an automobile from moving backwardly on a hill after havin stopped and While again being started up.

Generically the invention seeks to provide a device which can be installed in a conventional automobile transmission and will cause the transmission to function as a one way hydraulic brake and. prevent the vehicle from moving backward when the transmission is set in a forward po sition and also when set in a reverse position.

In driving a conventional automobile it is difficult to prevent the car from rolling down-hill when starting up on an incline, for as the foot is removed from the brake to manipulate the throttle the car starts to roll before the engine can be accelerated and the clutch engaged. Due to the inertia of the car moving in the opposite direction from that desired and the increased load because of the incline it" is often diflicult to engage the clutch without stalling the, engine or jerking the car. This has long been considered a source of great annoyance and numerous contrivances have been devised .andsome used to some extent to overcome it. It seems that all methods devised have been impractical either because they were too complex and therefore too expensive, or they were too fragile or, they would not perform all the functions desired.

It is therefore the intent and purpose of this invention to provide a simple, inexpensive, and rugged means of performing the above mentioned functions which can be built as an ac-' cessory and can be adapted to any conventional transmission assembly without changing the fundamental design of that assembly. This device, as will be seen from the accompanying drawings and the following description, will, due to the inherent design of the transmission, reverse its action in relationship to the movement of the car as the, transmission setting is reversed and it will require no adjusting'as all braking action is hydraulic. g

Other objects will in part be obvious and in part be pointed out hereinafter.

To theattainment of the aforesaid objects and ends; invention also resides in the novel details of construction, combinations and arrangements of parts which will first be described in detail and then be specifically pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which- 7 Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a transmission mechanism, part of the housing beingbroken away to show the application of myinvention.

2 Claims. (Cl. 192-4) Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line 22 of Fig. 1. 1 V

Fig. 3 is a detail horizontal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. g j I V Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the brake body.

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the same looking from right to left in Fig. 4. V

Fig. 6 is atop plan view of the same.

Fig. '7 is a side elevation of the brake body holding or locking device.

Fig; 8 is an elevation of the same looking from left to right in Fig. '7 V Fig. 9 is a top plan view of the same.

In the drawings in which like numerals of ref erence indicate like parts in. all thefigures, i represents the conventional transmission housing whose cover. 2.is' secured in place by cap screws 3. The. driving shaft 4 has the usual driving gear 5 which meshes constantly with a countergear [ion a countershaft l. The gears 5' and 6 have the usual hubs 5 6*. All the foregoing parts (I to 'i) are of the usual construc-- tion and per se are not of my invention.

My invention comprises, as new articles of manufacture, the parts shown in Figs. l to 9 inclusive andt-he lock screw l? and nut i8 shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. It also comprises those parts in combination with the transmission gears 5 and 6 and their hubs as will more fully appear in the appended claims.

The brake attachment comprises a body which may be constructed of a single-piece of metal or of several pieces as may be found most convenient. As illustrated in the drawings, the brake body consists of two pieces of metal, one of which, 8, has a flange 9., The other is a flange plate Ill which is secured to the body 8 by a cap screw [2, a gasket ll being interposed between the body 8 and plate I!) and guide pins is being provided to ,prevent the plate swivelling on the screw I2. 4 p

Each flange 9 and I0 has a curved edge 15 to conform to and fit against the hub of the gears 6 while the body.,8 has curved faces i6 and i? to fit against. and conform to the outer edges of the teeth of the gears 5 and B. The flanges also have edges I4 curved to the curvature ofthe hub of gear 5 as shown in dotted linesin Fig. 2.

The reason for making the brake body of severalparts, rather than one, is that the clearance between the flangesand the sides of the gears may be varied by changing the thickness of gasket H and in some cases to facilitate machining. Hereinafter the parts numbered 8 to Hi .in-

elusive shall be considered as a unit and referred to as the brake body.

As will be seen, the brake body constitutes a casing around a portion of the gears 5 and 6 and it is fitted close enough to give a hydraulic fit and thus cooperate with the gears as a geartype oil pump.

The brake body is held firmly against the gears 5 and 6 by a brake lock 18 in the embodiment illustrated but in some transmission assemblies a set screw passing directly through the housing, or other equivalent means, may be employed for the purpose. The brake lock I8 is a piece of metal of the proper shape and size to fit between the housing bulge 22 and th brake body, thereby holding the brake body firmly against the gears by a wedging action. The brake lock [8 has a heel 23 that engages the brake body and a forked flange I9 to swivelly receive a lock screw 20. The screw 20 Eisthreaded through one of the holes in the cover 2 from which a cover screw has been removed. A nut 2i locks the screw 20 in place and also takes the place or" the cover screw, which has been removed, to secure .the Cover 2 to the housing I When the brake parts areinstalled as described above they cause the transmission to function in the method and manner as follows:

' 'Qear 5 is driven by the engine through the disengaging clutch and drive shaft ii and is turned in the direction as indicated by arrows. Gear 5 is in turn driven by gear '5 and turns in the opposite direction as indicated .by its arrows. When turning in the directions indicated, the brake mechanism offers no resistance to the movement f the gears but if they start to turn in the opposite direction the transmission grease which surrounds gear 6 is drawn into .the space between the gears and the brake body 8 by the open spaces between the teeth of gear 6. However, the grease can not pass on through the curved groove of body 8 because when the teeth of gear 5 mesh with those of gear 5 there is no longer space to convey the grease and as body 8 fits gears 5 and 5 too closely to allow grease to escape therefore the hydraulic pressure produced within the grooves of body 8 by the excessive amount of grease drawn in prevents the gears from turning further in the reverse position but if they are again drawn forward by the engine or other means the excessive grease will be immediately drawn out of the grooves of body 8 by gears 5 and 6 and will not restrain the movement of the gears as excessive grease will not be drawn into the grooves of body 8 when gears 5 and 6 are moving in forward direction because the teeth mesh before, rather than after entering the grooves of body 8. v i

As this braking action takes place on thedrivin gears before the releasing or reversin function of the transmission is accomplished by other train of gears the resulting braking action on the driving wheels of the automobile is released or reversed in relationship to the gear setting. For example, when the transmission is set in low, medium or high in :forward, the brake allows the car to move forward freely but prevents it from moving backward. When transmission is in neutral the car is not restrained from moving in either direction but when the transmission is set in reverse the .car :is prevented by the .brake from moving fiorward but is allowed to freely move backward.

In drivin a conventional automobile equipped with this dcviceland upon desiring to stop and then start again when going up a. hill, the driver would stop as usual by disengaging the clutch and applying the foot brakes. The transmission can then be set in low gear and his foot can then be removed from the brake pedal and used to control the engine because if the car should begin to roll backward this device will immediately restrain it from further backward movement; when the clutch is reengaged the car can be drawn forward up hill by the motor "without restraint by this brake. If however the driver desires tomove backward down this hill, by leaving the transmission in neutral or shift in reverse he can then move jreely in that direction.

This device will also be especially helpful when upon driving down grade it becomes necessary to stop and move backward up the hill. In this case the procedure will be the same as before except when the driver shifts to reverse he may then take his foot oif oi the brake pedal to oper ate the throttle and then the car is prevented from rolling forward but is not restrained from moving backward when driven by the motor.

An inherent adaantage of this method of bra ing is that when in low gear-or reverse the braking action is greatest on the drivin Wheels due to the gear ratio but if the motor stalls while climbing a hill in medium-or high gears the brake serves as a saiety make to prevent the car from rolling backwards down grade and possi ly gee ting out of control. r s a If more braking action is needed than this device will provide another one may be used on the ear op ra i on the back part of t e hu of ear 6 which will work .in the same manner as the one described, 1 411.01 will work in conjunction with it and supplement its braking act-ion.

If it is desired to render this brake ineffective lock it can be drawn away from the brake body and thus allow the body to. move slightly away from the gears; :then no braking action will take place. If this device is applied either in a vehicle or to any application :where it is desired to often release it from action or to use it to retard the backward motion of any gears a conventional.

train of levers, screws or other devices may be employed to withdraw the brake body 8 either slightly or completely away from its gears-so as to allow the passage of grease or an liquid at any rate desired to allow the gears to-move backhousing, a, countershai't having a countergear meshing with said driving ear d in parts at least immersed in said lubricant and a brake body located at one side of and in cooperative association with said" gears and defining curved channels through which the respective gear teeth re spectively pass, the improvementwhich CQm prises an inward projection of said housing defining with said brake body a tapered space, a

brake lock longitudinally movable in said tapered space in engagement with said inward projection and said brake body, and means operable from the outside of said housing for moving said brake lock said space to move said brake body toward said gear or release said body accordingly as said brake lock is moved in one direction or the other.

2. In transmission mechanism wherein is provided a housing containing a lubricant, a driving shaft having a driving gear located within said housing, a countershaft having a, countergear meshing with said driving gear and in part at least immersed in said lubricant and a brake body located at one side of and in cooperative association with said gears and defining curved channels through which the respective gear teeth respectively pass, the improvement which comprises an inward projection of said housing defining with said brake body a tapered space, a brake lock longitudinally movable in said tapered space in engagement with said inward projection and said brake body, and means operable from the outside of said housing for moving said brake lock in said space to move said brake body toward said gears LONNIE A. DICKENS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are'of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,503,405 Wheeler July 29, 1924 1,692,801 Jensen Nov.-11, 1928 

